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Diploma in Environmental Science - The Carbon Cycle

It is sad to know that deforestation has increased the carbon dioxide in the environment leading to Global warming and other disastrous consequences.

Somalia
0 0
09 avril 2017

Abdinasir S.

Carbon dioxide is the major cause of global warming in most countries, but in Australia and New Zealand the case is different ammonia from animal mouth is the major gas that harms the atmosphere. Is that right?

How do the processes of photosynthesis,respiration and or human activity affect the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ? Also, what will happen if the carbon dioxide level keep increasing?

Malaysia
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09 avril 2017

Alice B.

Human activities such as burning fossils fuels , clearing trees and plants for commercials purposes and etc should be controlled to prevent the increasing level of carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere which causes global warming effect.

Malaysia
0 0
09 avril 2017

Alice B.

which two main processes involving in carbon cycle?

Nigeria
0 0
09 avril 2017

Earnest A.

Decomposed plant material is sometimes buried and compressed between layers of sediments. After millions of years fossil fuels such coal and oil are formed. When fossil fuels are burned, the carbon is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.how can will really know how the fossil fuels formed? please reply i need a video clip

Diploma in Environmental Science - The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is the basic building block of all organic materials, and therefore, of living organisms. However, the vast majority of carbon resides as inorganic minerals in crustal rocks. Other reservoirs of carbon include the oceans and atmosphere.

Several physical processes affect carbon as it moves from one reservoir to another. The inter-relationships of carbon and the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and crustal earth - and the processes affecting it - are described by the carbon cycle.

The main carbon cycling processes involving living organisms are photosynthesis and respiration. These processes are actually reciprocal to one another with regard to the cycling of carbon: photosynthesis removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and respiration returns it. A significant disruption of one process can therefore affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

During a process called photosynthesis, raw materials are used to manufacture sugar. Photosynthesis occurs in the presence of chlorophyll, a green plant pigment that helps the plant utilize the energy from sunlight to drive the process. Although the overall process involves a series of reactions, the net reaction can be represented by the following:
The carbon cycle is actually comprised of several inter-connected cycles. The overall effect is that carbon is constantly recycled in the dynamic processes taking place in the atmosphere, at the surface and in the crust of the earth.
For example, the combustion of wood transfers carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide is taken in by plants and converted to nutrients for growth and sustenance. Animals eat the plants for food and exhale carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they breathe.
Sugar provides a source of energy for other plant processes and is also used for synthesizing materials necessary for plant growth and maintenance. The net effect with regard to carbon is that it is removed from the atmosphere and incorporated into the plant as organic materials. (Respiration occurs not only in plants, but also in humans and animals. Unlike photosynthesis, respiration can occur during both the day and night. During respiration, carbon is removed from organic materials and expelled into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.)

The reciprocal process of photosynthesis is called respiration. The net result of this process is that sugar is broken down by oxygen into carbon dioxide and water. The net reaction is:
Another process by which organic material is recycled is the decomposition of dead plants and animals. During this process, bacteria break down the complex organic compounds. Carbon is released into the soil or water as inorganic material or into the atmosphere as gases.

Decomposed plant material is sometimes buried and compressed between layers of sediments. After millions of years fossil fuels such coal and oil are formed. When fossil fuels are burned, the carbon is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Human activity threatens to disrupt the natural cycle of carbon. Two important ways by which humans have affected the carbon cycle, especially in recent history, are:
1) the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during the burning of fossil fuels, and
2) the clearing of trees and other plants (deforestation) that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis.

The net effect of these actions is to increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is estimated that global atmospheric carbon dioxide is increasing by about 0.4% annually. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas (i.e., it prevents infrared radiation from the earth\'s surface from escaping into space). The heat is instead absorbed by the atmosphere. Many scientists believe that the increased carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is resulting in global warming.